Ma and Pa's Blog

We spent the afternoon having a Five Guys burger and fries (our second visit, and this time we noticed the burger, which was overshadowed by the excellent fries during our first visit) and strolling Holden Arboretum. It was a pleasant visit for a day predicted to be wet and stormy. The gardens were beautiful, though some were past their peak for the season.

Nate shared these great pics from his recent visit.   Thanks, Nate!   They’re great.

I saw this and found it amazing.   Hope you enjoy.

See an article from Scientific American here.

We just returned from a fantastic week at Hocking Hills. Too bushed to write much, but the photos are worth a thousand words each, right?

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• We had a picnic.
• We played miniature golf.
• We ate ice cream & drank lemonade.
• We watched a monster (Owen) chase Sebastian & Caleb.
• We ate sloppy joes.
• We ate blueberry pancakes.
• We walked in the woods.
• We made campfires and ate smores.
• We climbed up to a cave.
• We took naps.
• We learned to transform and untransform Transformer things.
• We ate hamburgers and hotdogs.
• We drove (and rode) a pontoon boat.
• We lost a tooth (Sebastian’s 1st) and were visted by the tooth fairy ($5 – wow!).
• We ate ribs.
• We saw deer (5 or 6) and wild turkeys and chip”bonks” (Owen)
• We rode in a van with satellite radio.
• We played horseshoes.
• We played hottub volleyball.
• We farted — real and whoopie cushion versions.
• We ate spaghetti and meatballs and vegan sausage.
• We watched Blues Clues and Johnny Dangerously (adults for latter).
• We saw the world’s largest washboard and the last US factory that makes washboards.
• We ate more blueberry pancakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Bran Flakes (Grandpa).
• We bought peaches and made cobbler.
• We saw logging machinery up close.
• We learned to count to 21 (blackjack as an educational tool) — dealer goes bust (YEAH!)
• We played bingo (rhymning and vowels) and a matching game and Jenga.
• We soaked each other with water guns, and sometimes the pitcher used to fill them.
• We toured Old Man’s Cave — most beautiful and amazing.
• We watched bugs and listened to birds.
• We went to a restaurant and spilled water and laughed.
• We had to go home . . . dang!

Jeff, Anna-Marie, and Sebastian visited Nannie & Poppy today. Sebastian remembered their place from two years ago (a very long time relative to his age). He had a great time playing with the magnetic blocks, exploring the balcony, and eating much chocolate. Jeff impressed Nannie with the softness of his “scratchy looking” beard. It was a very nice visit.

We had a nice visit with Brenna and Bailey yesterday. I can’t believe how much Bailey resembles her mom as a child.

It’s good to see that they are thriving and to get updates on all the Wisconsin clan.

Mike and Jen returned from their brief vacation last night and this morning they packed up the boys and took off to Eastlake for holiday picnics and a visit with Grandma and Paca.   So our house emptied a short time ago and it didn’t take too long to straighten up the place after a wonderful visit with Caleb and Owen. Usually this is done with a tinge of sadness, but this time, we had to kick it  into high gear and the countdown begins!  Beds are stripped, I’m making a shopping list, and I’ll be making meatballs and cookies and wheatberry salad and seitan sausages and lotsa other stuff because Jeff, Anna Marie and Sebastian will be here in LESS THAN A WEEK!  Woohoo!  And, Sebastian, you’ll enjoy some of the toys that your dad used to play with which we’d hauled up from the basement–all ready and waiting for you in the patio room!  Hurry up, Friday!